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A FREQUENCY-BASED MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF BINOCULAR
COMPLEX CELL RESPONSES
by
Benjamin L. Raskob
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING)
May 2012
Copyright 2012 Benjamin L. Raskob

We introduce a new biologically-inspired method for determining binocular disparity from stereo imagery by measuring Disparity Phase Interference (DPI), a sinusoidal pattern created in the Fourier domain when corresponding regions from the left and right images are summed together. We show that the frequency of the DPI sinusoid is proportional to the disparity of the stereo match, and describe our implementation used to recover disparity through the measurement of this frequency. Our technique is shown to improve stereo results around object edges (depth discontinuities), which often cause errors for other stereo-matching algorithms, making sharp depth edges smeared. We accomplish this using a bank of complex Gabor wavelets whose inherent directionality in the Fourier domain allow them to separate DPI frequency by orientation. ❧ We have based this wavelet processing layer upon published neuroscience models of complex-cell processing in the primary visual cortex. Binocular complex cells have been shown to demonstrate binocular sensitivity without actually solving the stereo-correspondence problem. We show that the binocular complex-cell energy model can be represented by a wavelet energy model, a mathematical description that allows us to more precisely characterize the properties and function of these cells. Our wavelet-based description extend the theory behind complex-cell processing, showing that it is possible to create more complicated stereo-vision behaviors such as Border Ownership (BOWN) by using these neuronal models in a DPI-analysis framework.

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A FREQUENCY-BASED MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF BINOCULAR
COMPLEX CELL RESPONSES
by
Benjamin L. Raskob
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING)
May 2012
Copyright 2012 Benjamin L. Raskob